


Filling Up Empty Corners

by soft_princess



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Community: maleslashminis, M/M, Post-Episode: s07e22 Chosen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-01
Updated: 2010-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:00:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22990624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_princess/pseuds/soft_princess
Summary: Would that Xander had learned to carry this precision to shelving research material as well.
Relationships: Rupert Giles/Xander Harris
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Filling Up Empty Corners

**Author's Note:**

> Written for crazydiamondsue for the Xander round at maleslashminis.

“I had no idea I had so much crap,” Xander says, half-apologetic when Giles gets back from work that evening. Giles hasn’t even had time to hang up his coat, let alone peek into the living room. “The movers just kept coming up with more shit to cram in here.” Xander finally appears with a stack of comics in hand, eye patch askew, a smear of dust on his cheek, and looking appallingly appealing.

“I thought we’d agreed--“

“I know, I’m sorry, watching my language now.” Xander shakes his head with a smile and heads down the hall to the spare room--now his study.

Not that it could be called a study quite yet, as bare as it was. Giles walks in after Xander, only giving a cursory glance to the living room--enough to see that every square inch is now somehow filled to bursting with boxes of random sizes. The study is not quite as empty as it was this morning. “Do you need me to run out and get you some more shelving units?” he asks, taking in the rapidly filling bookshelves.

Most of them are filled with mementos, pictures; one is filled to bursting with comic books--how Xander managed to gather that many in two years would forever be a mystery to Giles, but he suspects Andrew of being somehow involved. Another has what Giles imagines must be movie memorabilia--he thinks he can almost recognize one of the spaceship-looking figurines as being from that movie Xander had forced on him the night of his return from Cairo, Star-something or other.

“Nah,” Xander answers with a shrug. “I’ll make some more tomorrow when I know how much space I need.”

Giles leans into the doorway, arms crossed, as he watches Xander carefully sort through the comics in his hand and putting them in order with the ones already on the shelves. He’s meticulous, almost a perfectionist in this. Giles grins; would that Xander had learned to carry this precision to shelving research material as well. “Would you like me to order dinner? You must be hungry.”

“Sure,” Xander says without even turning to him. “Pizza okay?”

Giles shakes his head and rolls his eyes; it wouldn’t be Xander if he wasn’t predictable. And if he was honest with himself, Giles wouldn’t love him quite as much.

It had taken them both by surprise when Xander had returned to England almost exactly a year ago, after a harrowing mission in the Republic of Congo, and Giles’ first reaction had been to kiss him. The worry had edged lines across Xander’s face; it had almost managed to make Giles mad with it. To finally be able to touch Xander, realize for good that he was alive, and well, and here, had broken some kind of barrier inside Giles, and he’d pulled Xander to him, right there in the middle of the airport, and kissed him.

Xander had kissed back.

“Pizza sounds delicious,” Giles replies, pulling back from his thoughts. Here and now, Xander was unpacking two years’ worth of post-Sunnydale memories, making himself a space in Giles’ life like he’d done to his heart, and Giles didn’t think there could be more perfect moments to celebrate. “Extra pepperoni?”

“And cheese!” Xander turns to grin at him, and for a moment Giles is about to say sod it to fast food, comic books and the likes, and drag Xander upstairs to his--their bedroom. 

He doesn’t. He flashes Xander a grin of his own and leaves to hunt for the cordless telephone. It seems that it’s never in its place when Xander is around. Giles thinks he might get used to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Male character (ONE) they want paired with Xander: Giles  
> Up to three things they want in their fic: post Season 5 onward, England, Xander doing some sort of relocating task (unpacking, getting a UK DL, renting storage, etc)  
> Up to two things they don't want: character bashing, dark!fic  
> Preferred maximum rating: NC-17


End file.
